After more purpose-built river steamers became available, Senator began a 26-year long career sailing between San Francisco and Southern California ports.

[3] The ship was rigged as a two-masted schooner and could sail, but her primary propulsion was provided by side-mounted paddle wheels, 30 feet (9.1 m) in diameter.

[4] Senator had staterooms on deck for her first class passengers, a salon where they could take their meals, and a separate "ladies cabin" where the women could retreat from the smoking and drinking men.

[4][7] After this brief shakedown period, she began running between Boston, Saint John, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia in conjunction with Cunningham's steamer Admiral.

[15] At the start of the California gold rush, in 1848, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Lafayette Maynard studied this survey and became convinced that the river could be navigated by an ocean-going steamer, a superior vessel to the small craft in use at the time.

Lt. Maynard, on furlough from the Navy, and Charles Minturn would sail as owners' representatives, but the ship would be under the command of another serving naval officer, Lieutenant Richard Bache.

Bache was granted leave from his duties so that he might take the opportunity to learn about running a steam powered vessel, still a novelty at the time.

[5] While there was no freight carried on the trip so as to allow for more coal, Charles Minturn did advertise for passengers, offering the New York to San Francisco passage with a stateroom for $600, or $300 for steerage.

On the next day she encountered a storm which caused significant damage, and was forced to put in at St. Catherines Island for repairs.

[27] The ship finally reached her new home port of San Francisco on October 27, 1849, almost eight months en route.

[29] After this initial success, Charles Minturn established a two round-trip per week schedule, sailing to Sacramento on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and back to San Francisco on Thursdays and Sundays.

[31] Minturn exploited Senator's popularity by arranging connections to shallow-water steamers that would take her passengers from Sacramento up the Feather and Yuba Rivers to the heart of the gold diggings.

[32] With minimal competition on the river and the gold rush still booming, Senator usually had 300 passengers and 200 to 300 tons of freight aboard for each trip, netting her $60,000 per month in her first year in San Francisco.

[33] Competition stiffened as more ships reached the Bay Area, but even so Senator earned her investors more than $1,500,000 in her first five years in California.

[42] Profitability went out of the industry, so the owners of ten Bay Area steamers, including Charles Minturn representing Senator, agreed to a uniform set of rates in January, 1852.

They weighed 49 tons, and created such stability problems for the clipper ship carrying them, Hornet, that its captain was forced to throw them overboard to prevent capsizing.

When she resumed service in February 1852, Senator's fare from San Francisco to Sacramento was $1 for a cabin and $0.50 for deck passage.

[53] The California Steam Navigation Company idled most of its fleet immediately upon its organization to eliminate excess capacity, and raised prices to return profitability.

[55] Struggling to find profitable uses for all the ships that were consolidated into the California Steam Navigation Company, Senator's owners expanded to coastal routes.

[62] Her work moving the men, horses, and mules of the US Army up and down the California coast continued throughout the Civil War.

On the freight side of Senator's business, Southern California shipped large quantities of food and agricultural products to San Francisco.

The ship was crossing the bar heading into San Francisco on January 1, 1863, when she was hit by a large wave which damaged her aft cabins.

Her passengers and freight were safely removed and Captain Seeley ran the ship to the beach to prevent her from sinking in deep water.

These northern routes overlapped with the California, Oregon, and Mexico Steamship Company run by Ben Holladay.

Pacific Mail Steamship Company exited the coastal shipping business and focused on its longer international routes.

Five ships, including Senator, and all the facilities of the south coast line was sold to Goodall, Nelson, and Perkins in January 1875.

[98] In her later years, from 1879 on, she was sometimes used as a "spare boat", laid-up and idle until she was needed to take the place of a larger, younger vessel that had met with a disabling mishap.

[101] Since her engines were gone, the new owners added temporary spars and rigging converting her into a barkentine sailing ship so she could cross the Pacific.

She sailed with a fairly full load of general merchandise including machinery, 82 tons of salt, 5,000 pounds of sugar, 1,300 gallons of syrup, 100 barrels of flour, 52,000 feet of lumber, and 10 flasks of mercury.

She sank in shallow water, and after the fire was extinguished, Senator was pumped out, repaired, and got back to work dispensing coal.